AD editors present a selection of their favorite coastal properties

An oceanfront concrete, steel and glass house near San Diego was designed by Wallace E. Cunningham to make the most of an intimate site. “The first thing we did when my clients bought the property was to climb onto the roof of the run-down single-story house that was there and see what we could see,” explains Cunningham. “The view was everything,” he remembers from that exploratory visit. “To get that view corridor, we designed the house upside down, with all the principal rooms—the kitchen, the living and dining areas and the master bedroom—on the highest level.” (April 2005)